Hacker News with Generative AI: Education

Texas' annual reading test adjusted difficulty yearly, masking improvement (theconversation.com)
Texas children’s performance on an annual reading test was basically flat from 2012 to 2021, even as the state spent billions of additional dollars on K-12 education.
Reactions and follow up to College English Majors Can't Read (kittenbeloved.substack.com)
Well, that was a wild ride. As of the time of this writing, College English majors can’t read has 120,000 views and 535 comments.
Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews (theguardian.com)
The Trump administration has ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for foreign students as it prepares to implement comprehensive social media screening for all international applicants.
AI Cheating Is So Out of Hand in Schools That the Blue Books Are Coming Back (gizmodo.com)
It’s no secret that AI is wrecking America’s educational system. With easy access to apps like ChatGPT—which can answer any question and also write full-fledged essays for you—high school and college students have begun to cheat their way through life, content to let an algorithm do the thinking, and the test-taking, for them. It’s no surprise, then, that some educators have gone analog, in an effort to stem the tide of anti-intellectualism sweeping the nation.
US considers social media vetting for foreign university students (thenational.scot)
Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews (theguardian.com)
The Trump administration has ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for foreign students as it prepares to implement comprehensive social media screening for all international applicants.
Estonia eschews phone bans in schools and takes leap into AI (theguardian.com)
While many schools in England have banned smartphones, in Estonia – regarded as the new European education powerhouse – students are regularly asked to use their devices in class, and from September they will be given their own AI accounts.
Shenandoah Students Creating VR Experience Following the Lewis and Clark Trail (su.edu)
A team of students at Shenandoah University is wrapping up work on a groundbreaking virtual reality project that will change how people learn about and experience the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine (solarshades.club)
Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine.
Computer Science major has seventh highest unemployment rate (newsweek.com)
Despite routinely ranking as one of the most popular majors for college students and recent graduates, computer science has one of the highest unemployment rates across all areas of study.
Trump considers giving $3B of Harvard's grants to trade schools (theguardian.com)
President Donald Trump said on Monday he is considering taking $3bn of grant money away from Harvard University and giving it to trade schools across the United States.
Trump demands list of names of Harvard's foreign students (independent.co.uk)
President Donald Trump posted a late-night rant on Truth Social, demanding that Harvard University provide his administration with the “names and countries” of all its international students.
Open Source Society University – Path to a free self-taught education in CS (github.com/ossu)
The OSSU curriculum is a complete education in computer science using online materials.
Mathpad: A mathematical keypad for students and professionals (github.com/Summa-Cogni)
Mathpad is a keypad that makes it easy to type equations.
Domain Theory Lecture Notes (liamoc.net)
It is time to stop teaching frequentism to non-statisticians (2012) (arxiv.org)
We should cease teaching frequentist statistics to undergraduates and switch to Bayes. Doing so will reduce the amount of confusion and over-certainty rife among users of statistics.
Study of the Reading Comprehension Skills of English Majors at Two Universities (muse.jhu.edu)
This paper analyzes the results from a think-aloud reading study designed to test the reading comprehension skills of 85 English majors from two regional Kansas universities.
Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) (2024) (sebokwiki.org)
On behalf of the Editorial Board, the Governing Board, and our authors and sponsors, welcome to SEBoK version 2.11.
Why Academic Freedom Matters (ravenmagazine.org)
In the midst of the 2020 protests for racial justice, I prepared to teach my annual July mini-course on free speech for incoming FLI (First-Generation and/or Low-Income) students at Amherst College.
Chinese College Gives Harvard International Students 'Unconditional Offers' (newsweek.com)
A Hong Kong college has promised "unconditional offers" for international students at Harvard after the Trump administration revoked the Ivy League's ability to enroll them.
Kermit the Frog gives commencement speech at University of Maryland (apnews.com)
Music talent agent among dead after jet crashes into San Diego neighborhood
Belgium Belgium's future queen caught up in Harvard foreign student ban (theguardian.com)
Princess Elisabeth, the 23-year-old future queen of Belgium, has just completed her first year at Harvard University but the ban imposed by Donald Trump’s administration on foreign students studying there could jeopardise her continued attendance.
The Impact of Post-Tenure Evaluations on Faculty Productivity and Selection (ssrn.com)
This paper examines the labor market effects of Florida's 2022 post-tenure review policy, which weakened tenure protections at public universities.
Judge Blocks Trump Move to Halt Harvard's International Student Visas (thecrimson.com)
A federal judge granted Harvard a temporary restraining order in its suit to block the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke its authorization to enroll international students.
Federal judge halts Trump admin ban on Harvard's ability to enroll intl students (cnn.com)
Harvard's foreign students are stuck and scared (bbc.com)
Harvard sues Trump administration over international student enrollment ban (cnbc.com)
Trump admin revokes Harvard's ability to enroll all international students (npr.org)
The Trump administration has revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
College English majors can't read (kittenbeloved.substack.com)
Last month, we were discussing what functional literacy means and how many of us qualify. The excerpt below is about the sliding literacy scale defined by the PIAAC, and what it means to score 4 out of 5.
America is in danger of experiencing an academic brain drain (economist.com)
America is in danger of experiencing an academic brain drain